National liberation has been a theme within
Marxism
Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialectical ...
, and especially after the influence of
anti-imperialism and
self-determination of all peoples became prevalent in
communist movements, especially in advocating freedom from
colonial rule
Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colony, colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose the ...
in the
Third World
The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the " First ...
. National liberation has been promoted by Marxists out of an
international-socialist perspective rather than a
bourgeois nationalist perspective.
[Terry Eagleton: '']Why Marx Was Right
''Why Marx Was Right'' is a 2011 non-fiction book by the British academic Terry Eagleton about the 19th-century philosopher Karl Marx and the schools of thought, collectively known as Marxism, that arose from his work. Written for laypeople, '' ...
''. Yale University Press, 2011, p. 217.
After the
Russian Revolution, revolutionaries declared that all peoples had the right to self-determination. While communism is critical of
nationalism
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
, communists claimed that the cause of national liberation was not a matter of
chauvinism, but a matter of
radical democracy
Radical democracy is a type of democracy that advocates the radical extension of equality and liberty. Radical democracy is concerned with a radical extension of equality and freedom, following the idea that democracy is an unfinished, inclusive, ...
.
See also
*
Left-wing nationalism
Left-wing nationalism or leftist nationalism, also known as social nationalism, is a form of nationalism based upon national self-determination, popular sovereignty, national self-interest, and left-wing political positions such as social equal ...
*
National delimitation in the Soviet Union
National delimitation in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was the process of specifying well-defined national territorial units (Soviet socialist republics SR autonomous Soviet socialist republics SSR autonomous oblasts rovinces raions ...
*
National Question
''National question'' is a term used for a variety of issues related to nationalism. It is seen especially often in socialist thought and doctrine.
In socialism
* ''Social Democracy and the National Question'' by Vladimir Medem in 1904
* ''So ...
*
Marxism–Leninism
Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology which was the main communist movement throughout the 20th century. Developed by the Bolsheviks, it was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, its satellite states in the Eastern Bloc, and various c ...
*
Socialist patriotism
Socialist patriotism is a form of patriotism promoted by Marxist–Leninist movements.Robert A. Jones. ''The Soviet concept of "limited sovereignty" from Lenin to Gorbachev: the Brezhnev Doctrine''. MacMillan, 1990. Pp. 133. Socialist patriotis ...
References
{{Marxist and communist phraseology
Communist terminology
Ideology of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Leninism